It Did Happen Here

Summary

In this satirical alternative history, Professor Jeronimo Herodotease and his team of documentary filmmakers and reenactors revivify the dark days of the Grim Depression and Amerika's descent into dictatorship. In the chaos and strife that followed the assassination of President-elect Frankie van Rosenvelt, General Jackson and a cadre of Forcist-minded cockroaches swarmed the stage, gnawed away at democratic norms, and declared martial law under the guise of restoring "Law and Order." Minorities and illegal aliens were scapegoated for the nation's woes, and dissenters daring to oppose the regime found themselves attacked by the Faux Outlet for News and Entertainment, whisked away to detention camps, or forced into exile. In retelling the stories of radicals and reactionaries, statesmen and demagogues, cultural producers and political censors, Herodotease reveals a polarized Amerika not unlike that of our own contentious age. Woven into the fabric of the narrative are a plethora of vintage photographs, historical artifacts, and propaganda art, all courtesy of The Wolfsonian–Florida International University. While included with the aim of bringing the persons and events of the 1930s back to life, many of these illustrations have been purposefully manipulated or supplied with deliberately deceptive descriptions to challenge those persons who believe everything they see, to think again. In this era of Facebook fakes, misinformation, and disinformation, unless we remain ever vigilant, it can happen here!